Hitman to be only released digitally this year, disc coming 2016

The Hitman title announced at this year’s E3 will only see a digital release this year, with a physical version to come in 2016.

The new Hitman game saw an unusual reveal at this past E3, with many questioning exactly how the title will be launching. Would it be digital, physical or even an episodic series of assassinations?

In a Q&A that took place yesterday, IO Interactive put to rest many of our qualms with the title whilst highlighting some interesting new details:

“What we release on December 8th [as a download for PC, PS4, and Xbox One] is not the full game. It’s a sizeable chunk of it. Throughout 2016 we’ll release more locations and missions until the story arc is done and finished.”

“All of that content is included in the $60 [£40] price. We know that the specifics of exactly what is included on December 8th are very important to some of you. We’re finalizing those plans and look forward to sharing them with you.”

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IO Interactive is confident that this will be “a polished Hitman experience” and wishes to stress that its approach is not episodic. However it does plan to add new content to the game overtime after the initial release:  

“We think the word ‘episodic’ sets up the expectation that we will sell individual content drops for individual prices but that’s not something we’re planning to do.”

“That said, there are some episodic elements to the story in the sense that it’s delivered in chunks over time, so experiencing the story will probably feel episodic.”

“But there is also a ton of other content including live events, which have nothing to do with the story. We’ll also be improving and changing the game constantly whilst you’re playing it.”

No matter how you slice it, Hitman will only see a digital release this year; an incomplete one at that.

It’s unclear how content will be added to the game after release, or how much will be included when the title launches this December.

Hitman is a franchise that would definitely fit into an episodic format though. The idea of separating large scale, narrative driven assassinations into bite-sized chunks sounds excellent.

The promise of regular content updates that both contribute and alleviate from the storyline would be the icing on the cake. Hitman will be fully playable offline, but you won’t be able to take part in Live Events or contribute to leaderboards.

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Hitman is set to launch digitally on December 8 for PS4, Xbox One and PC for £39.99.